A season of change leads to a lifetime of success

A SEASON OF CHANGE LEADS TO

A LIFETIME OF SUCCESS

UNIVERSITY OF JAMESTOWN’S NURSING CLASS OF 1969

Joyce Kost Heitmann

Ann Piltingsrud Dau

Bonnie Kay Moxness The Nursing class of 1969 remember their years at University of Jamestown as a season of change. There were four different directors in four years. Accreditations were shifting, and the program was moving from a five-year requirement to four. When this class initially came to UJ, about 30 students were in their program. In two short years, only 13 remained; the rest had transferred.

And yet, those that stayed don’t look on this season negatively; rather, they see it as a very formative experience—crediting their tight-knit class, personal connections, passionate professors, and flexible scheduling as reasons they stayed at UJ.

“It was really a pioneering adventure while we were there, because our nursing program was in transition, and we as individuals were in transition with our own interests and how we pursued them,” explained Dr. Susan Holli Homan Neidlinger (’69). “It laid a really good foundation.”

Qualities of flexibility and resilience continue to unite the class, who have kept in touch and recently reunited on campus to celebrate the 50 th anniversary of their graduation. As their biographical document states, it “seems like the group that stuck with our studies at JC learned how to be flexible and flow with changes, which seems to have infiltrated into our lives in serving our communities and health needs after leaving our initial studies.” Many have gone on to get advanced degrees, become educators, and travel the world.

A GROUP OPEN TO NEW IDEAS “I think that Jamestown at that particular time had a strong nursing program, and they gave us enough background so we could expand and feel comfortable,” said Gail Cameron Saxowsky (’69). “I think as a group of people we were really open to ideas and eager to try new things out.”

Susan, who was a member of the National Student Nursing Association (NSNA), is the perfect example of a student with this eagerness. “The foundation we had [at University of Jamestown] was very rich,” she said. “We wanted to get out there in the world. We were not yes people; we were questioning people.” Towards the end of her freshman year, Susan applied for a travel sponsorship and with that, went to San Francisco to attend an NSNA conference.

“There were over 4,000 nurses there from all over the country,” she explained. “And speakers from around the world. It opened my eyes to what there was in the profession.” When the opportunity arose, five of her classmates joined her on a trip to Dallas to support her as she ran for a position on the national board.

“All of us going together and getting to see the bigger picture of what was going on in nursing—we saw that there was work to be done. There was more out there, and we needed to be involved,” Susan continued. “It all made for quite an amazing journey at Jamestown College.”

Their excitement towards traveling has taken many of the graduates across the country and the world with their careers.

Gail moved to Alaska following graduation, and eventually came to work on an ambulance in the rural part of the state. She was instrumental in helping her service become one of the first in Alaska to have the capacity to start IV fluids in the field, as well as with writing the state protocols for having Epi Pens in first responder kits, and in developing guidelines for an EMS personnel debriefing program.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE LOCALLY Still, others decided to stay local, and make an impact on their immediate community, like Sharon Erickson Unruh, who accepted a position as a Public Health Nurse for the City of Jamestown. After just three years, she was offered an administrator position. She felt inadequate for the position, but was motivated to make a difference.

“Elegrace Reekie, Director of JC Nursing Department, had instilled a love of Public Health in me,” Sharon said. They grew from six employees in 1972 to about 30 when she retired in 2006. “Grants were written for WIC, Title III Aging health services, Family Planning, Women’s Way, Bioterrorism, and Maternal Child Health Programs. … I felt honored to be a part of it,” she said, commenting on the impact her department made on the counties they served.

LIFELONG LEARNERS Many graduates of this class also went on to earn higher degrees, four with a master’s and two with PhDs. “We had some excellent mentors, I would say, in our faculty,” explained Dr. Fredricka Chase Gilje (’69). “The chair of our program was a woman with a doctorate in nursing, and she really paved the way and inspired us to think beyond.”

With these mentors in mind, most members of this graduating class went on to become educators themselves—doing everything from substitute teaching to serving as the Chief Professor and Academic Leader at a University in China.

Fredricka focused her studies on psychiatric mental health nursing in the practice area of education. She went on to teach at universities across the country, including University of Jamestown, and across the globe in places like Sweden, Finland, and China.

“It’s important to look at mental health from a nurse’s perspective,” said Fredricka. “It’s about the courage to come close to someone who is

Gail Cameron Saxowsky, Fredricka Chase Gilje, and Susan Homan Neidlinger at Homecoming 2019

suffering instead of backing away from them. I want to make sure those skills are integrated into the nursing curriculum.”

A SENSE OF DIVERSITY Another unique position this class was in was having a male classmate, Dennis Dean Riegler. “He was a forerunner for men getting in nursing,” explained Gail. Fredricka expanded on this thought saying, “[Having a male in the nursing program] was pretty rare, and he brought a lot of diversity to our group. He was a really adept practitioner.”

Dennis went on to serve as a nurse in the U.S. Army, becoming a Colonel and the director of surgical nursing at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. After retiring from the Army, he worked in nursing administration until his death in 2003.

SUCCESS FOR LIFE The graduates of the nursing program of the class of 1969 are no strangers to change, spending their formative college years in a program that was in transition, all during the women’s movement and the Vietnam War. And yet, beyond—and potentially due to—this season of change, the graduates have gone on to lead successful careers and lives.

“That support that helps you to grow and be nourished and go out into the world and continue through life—it’s unique to Jamestown College,” said Fredricka, as she reflected on her time as an undergraduate. “The mission and philosophy of the college. The bondedness. There’s something different there, something very deep and meaningful. It’s like your family.”

University of Jamestown is proud to have these graduates as part of its family.